The S&T Faculty Board held talks with the employees directly affected on Monday and Tuesday. Out of the total staff of 947 employees at the faculty, 46 people are facing redundancy.
Entire groups and research areas that no longer match the sharpened profile of the faculty will disappear. This also applies if they have obtained too little external funding in the past five years, or if they are not or hardly involved in providing education. The faculty does make exceptions, provided that a group or expertise is seen as 'particularly valuable', or if the teaching tasks cannot be replaced in the short term.
Eight research groups dissolved
Eight research groups are being dissolved. This concerns Magnetic Detection & Imaging, Health Technology Implementation, Biomolecular Nanotechnology, Optical Sciences, Bioelectric signaling and engineering, Bioelectronics, Nanobiophysics en Complex Photonic Systems. It is not clear whether it will mainly be scientific or support staff who will be dismissed, only that the ‘discontinuation of research groups and expertise will affect not only scientific staff, but also technicians, support staff, PhD students and postdocs’.
No cancellation of study programmes
The faculty is not scrapping any bachelor's or master's programmes. But it's not that the curricula don't feel the impact of the reorganization. The cutbacks in departments will have an irrevocable effect on education, such as in the supply of minors and master's specialisations.
One way or another, the entire Faculty of Science & Technology will feel the consequences, even if they are not directly affected by the reorganisation. About 5 percent of the faculty's workforce will disappear as a result of this decision. The loss of those colleagues has direct consequences for the tasks and workload of the S&T employees who remain.
Saving goal of 7 million euros
In order to achieve a balanced budget from 2026, S&T must cut 7 million euros annually. This reorganisation should result in cost savings of roughly 6.2 million euros, as is estimated.
In recent years, the faculty has been struggling with financial difficulties. Last September, the Faculty Board was forced to announce a reorganisation. For the past three years, the Faculty Council has given a negative advice on the budget. According to the latest available management report, S&T was heading for a deficit of 6.4 million euros last year.
